Warp control mechanism for looms



Feb. 2, 1965 w. A. RHEAUME 3,168,115

WARP CONTROL MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Filed Sept. 20, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR AJ 54 M/frflW/cauw Feb. 2, 1965 w. A. RHEAUME 3,168,115

WARP CONTROL MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Filed Sept. 20, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2if; ya

lhllhhhlll United States Patent 3,168,115 WARP (ZGNTROL MECHANEM FORLGGMS Walter A. Rheaume, Huntington Park, Calif., assignor to RaymondDevelopment Industries, line, Huntington Park, Calif., a corporation ofDelaware Filed Sept. 20, 1962, Ser. No. 225,056 4 Claims. (Cl. 139-24)The present invention relates generally to the art of weaving, and moreparticularly to a novel apparatus for controlling the movement of warpends through a conventional loom.

Generally speaking, the invention resides in the provision of a uniquewarp or fabric take-up mechanism, a novel warp feed mechanism, and thecombination of both. It is the purpose of the Warp take-up mechanism ofthe invention to provide means which will not only cause the warp endsto be indexed through the loom in the usual direction during normalweaving operations, but which will also cause the warp ends to backuplengthwise a preselected distance or number of picks at predeterminedintervals so that additional weaving may take place in an area of thefabric which has previously been woven. This action is particularlyuseful in connection with the weaving of multiple ply expansible fabricsin which one or more rib plies extend back and forth between a pair offace plies in the warpwise direction of the fabric, such as thosedisclosed in copending application for patent Serial No. 91,264, now US.Patent No. 3,090,406 the present warp take-up mechanism being animprovement over the corresponding mechanism shown in this copendingapplication. The rib plies in such fabrics must necessarily contain morepicks per unit of fabric length or have a flattened length in thewarpwise direction greater than the resultant expanded fabric simply byvirtue of the geometry thereof, at least when the rib plies extenddiagonally between the face plies. The warp take-up apparatus of thepresent invention facilitates the weaving of such fabrics by making itpossible to program a loom to first weave all the plies simultaneously,then to discontinue the weaving of the face plies while continuing theWeaving of the rib ply or plies, then to backup the warp ends, and hencethe fabric, and continue the simultaneous weaving of all the plies, andthen to repeat the sequence after a predetermined interval. A fabricwoven in accordance with this basic technique will thus have a greaternumber of picks in the rib ply or plies per unit length of the fabric inthe warpwise direction than the face plies, thereby facilitatingexpansion of the fabric.

Although the warp take-up mechanism of the present invention is itselfcapable of accomplishing this manner of operation, in the weaving ofcertain types of fabric from certain types of yarn it has been foundthat more uniform fabrics can be woven if the rib warps are providedwith slack during that portion of the weaving sequence when the ribplies are being woven. In the absence of such slack in the weaving ofcertain fabrics in which the rib ply or plies are interwoven at spacedintervals with the face plies, it has been found that normal warptension on the rib warps, such as that created by the weights at thecreels or by the warp beam, causes the woven rib plies to pull away fromthe woven face plies at the point where they are interwoven together. Italso causes a non-uniform rib count. These are due to the fact that thetension force on the rib warps in a direction toward the warp end sourceis not opposed by the usual tension force in the opposite directioncreated by the warp or fabric take-up roll. This lack of tension is dueto the fact that the woven rib plies are longer in the warpwisedirection than the woven face plies, which are also engaged by thetake-up roll, so that the take-up roll can tension only the face pliesand the rib plies remain slack.

3,168,115 Fatented Feb. 2, 1965 The warp feed mechanism also forming apart of the present invention alleviates this problem by positivelyfeeding the rib warps into the loom from the warp source at the propertime. As a result there is no tension on the rib warps in the directionof the warp source in excess of that necessary to facilitate shedding,and this amount is not great enough to cause the aforementioned pullingaway of the woven rib plies from the woven face plies with which theyare interwoven.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide anovel warp-controlling mechanism of the type described which is simpleand inexpensive in construction and which is extremely flexible orversatile in application in that it can beconveniently preset for theweaving of any number of extra picks in any desired ply or plies, forthe interval between the weaving of such extra picks, for the pick orfill density, and so on.

A further object resides in the provision of a unique apparatus of thetype described which is particularly adapted to be operated andcontrolled by a conventional dobby head controller. A related objectconcerns the provision of such an apparatus which is ideally suited foruse on most presently used production looms, including those referred toas harness looms, box looms, and so on, and which requires a minimum ofalteration of the loom with which it is used.

Yet another object involves the provision of a novel warp or fabrictake-up mechanism which will facilitate the weaving of extra picks incertain plies, a novel warp feed mechanism for positively feeding one ormore warp ends from the warp source into a loom, and the novelcombination of both such mechanisms.

These and other objects of the present invention will become apparentfrom consideration of the specification, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which there is illustrated a single embodimentof the present invention by way of example, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic side elevational view of the portions of aconventional loom which embody the present invention, with the frameremoved for clarity of illustration;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged front elevational view of Warp or fabric take-upmeans embodying the principles of the present invention;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged perspective view of several parts of the take-upmeans;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged side elevational view, with certain parts brokenaway for clarity, of a warp feed means embodying the principles of thepresent invention; and

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view of a fabric representative of the types offabrics which may be woven on looms constructed according to the presentinvention, the fabric being shown in an expanded condition.

Referring specifically to FIGURE 1, the conventional portions of thestandard loom illustrated include: a plurality of heddles 10 connectedby means of conventional harnesses 12 to the jacks (not shown) of adobby controller 14 which is programmed to cause the heddles to move upand down with respect to each other in accordance with the program toshed a plurality of warp ends 16 so that they may be woven into a clothor fabric 18, a reed 20 pivotally secured to the basic frame structureof the loom, indicated diagrammatically at 22, by means of a beatupframe or arm 24 which is caused to oscillate back and forth in aconventional manner by means of crank arms 26 and 28 driven by a motor30 through gears 32 and 34, fabric guide rolls 36, 38 and 40 for guidingthe woven fabric to a fabric take-up roll 42 having a conventionalneedle-like cloth-engaging surface 44, a guide roll 46 positioned tomaintain the woven fabric in engagement with a large portion of thecircumference of take-up roll 42, and a fabric storage roll or beam 48about which the finished fabric is collected. These elements ofconstruction, as well as all those not shown which are necessary forconventional weaving; such as the shuttle mechanism, are in all respectsof well known construction,- and since vthey arenot essential toa-description of the present invention they are either not shown or areillustrated only diagrammatically, for purposes of clarity. V v

The take-up meansof the present invention ,is illus trateddiagrammatically at the left of FIGURE 1, and in greater detail inFIGURES 2 and 3. Generally speak ing, it comprises, in addition to thefabric take-up roll,

indexing means drivingly engaging the take-up roll, drive I a Theindexing means includes a ratchet wheel 50 having a about its peripherya plurality of ratchet teeth 52 and on its inside face a pinion 54. Theoutside face of ratchet wheel 50 is generally planar, as indicated at 56in FIG- URE 2, and the entire ratchet wheel is mounted for rotation upona shaft 58 extending between two portions of the loom frame, indicatedat 2 2a and 22b in "this figure. As best seen in FIGURESVI and 2,ratchet wheel 50 is adapted to drive fabric take-up roll 42 throughpinion 54, a series of idler gears 60, 62 and 64 rotatably supported byframe member 22a, and a gear 66 secured to a shaft 68 rotatablysupported by a suitable bearing 70 in frame member 22a and forming apart of take-up roll 42.

The drive means for driving ratchet wheel 50 includes a drive pawl 72pivotally secured to a driving arm'74 mounted for free rotation upon astud shaft 76 secured to frame member 22b. As can be seen in FIGURE 1,

driving arm 74 is provided with an extension 78 having an elongated slot75 into which is slidably received a suitable projection on one end of alink 80,-the opposite end of which is rigidly secured to a bracket 82forming part of beatup arm 24. As can thus beseen, upon each oscillationof the beatup arm, drive pawl 72 is caused to advance ratchet wheel 50in the counterclockwise direction, i.e. fabric take-up direction, asseen in FIGURE' 1. Bracket 82 is provided with a pluralityof apertures83 into adjacent pairs of which the end of link 80 may be secured in anysuitable manner. The effective length -of the linkage between the'beatup arm and the driving arm may thus be varied to vary the drivestroke of pawl 72 upon each oscillation of beatup arm 24. To providefurther meansfor adjusting this stroke, driving arm 74 is providedwith'a plurality of apertures 85 into any one of which pawl 72 may bepivotally secured, as at 84, in any suitable manner. Drive pawl 72 ismaintained in constant engagement with ratchet wheel 50 by means of atension spring 86 extending between the pawl and a mounting lug 88forming a portion of frame 'member 22]). c

Also secured to pawl 72 is a control cable 90 which extends to and iscontrolled by one of the jacks in dobby controller 14. Thus,'as can beseen, drive pawl 72 will 7 I 4 52 and rotatably supported by stud shaft76. Holding pawl 92 is maintained in holding engagement with ratchetwheel 50 by means of tension spring 94 extending between an extension 96of pawl 92 and a mounting lug 98 forming a portion of frame member 2212.Also secured to extension 96 is a control cable 98 extending to andcontrolled by another one of the jacks in dobby controller 14. As canthus be seen, for a given program, when control cables and 98 are nottensioned, each oscillation of beatup arm 24 will cause pawl 72 to indexfabric take-up roll 42 in a fabric take-up direction and reverse ro-Itation, suchas would otherwise be caused'by the tension of the fabric,is prevented during the return strokes of pawl 72 by holding pawl 92.However, when the dobby controller operates to tension control cables 90and. 98, both pawls 72 and 92 will be pivoted out of engagement withratchet wheel 50 to thus allow the latter to be rotated in the oppositedirection by the tension in fabric 18' acting through the gear drive, toreversethe direction of movement of the. warp ends through the loom.Thus, the tensioned fabric itself serves'as the return means.

This reverse motion of the woven fabric and warp ends is a desiredobjective of the present invention; however,

it is essential that its magnitude, be controlled. For this purpose,there isprovided stop means comprising a second .ratchet wheel 100having a plurality of ratchet teeth102 about the periphery thereof androtatably mounted upon threaded aperture in ratchet wheel 50. Surface104 of ratchet wheel 106 is in turn provided with one or two stopmembers so positioned as to abut projection 106 on ratchet wheel 50 uponrelative rotation of the two ratchet wheels. Although the stop membersmay be of any configuration, two of them are illustrated as being in theform of hexhead machine screws 108 and 1101 threadably securedwithin'any' two of a plurality of circularly arranged threaded apertures112 in ratchet Wheel 100. Each of the threaded apertures is spaced adistance from the axis of shaft 58 equal to distance between proje'ction100 and shaft 58.

To prevent rotation of ratchet wheel 100 in the clockwise direction asseen in FIGURE 1, i.e., in a direction opposite to the fabric take-updirection of ratchet wheel 50, there is provided a locking pawl 114secured to' the free end of a resilient bracket 116 which is secured toframe member 22b. Bracket 116 is so prestress'ed and positioned so thatit will bias pawl 114 into constant engagement with ratchet wheel 100 toprevent reverse rotation at any time,

The manner in which the take-upimeans operates can best be visualized byviewing FIGURE 3, the arrow shown on ratchet wheel 50 illustrating thefabric take-up direction of'rotation. The dobby controller is programmedso that while normal weaving is taking place control cables 90 and 5 8are not tensioned and drive pawl 72 operates to index ratchet wheel 50,and hence fabric take-up roll 42, in the take-up direction each cycle ofoperation, or each time reed 20 beats up the fabric. The distance thefabric is advanced each time depends upon the ratio of the gear train,the pitch of the ratchet teeth, and the stroke of drive pawl 72. Sinceprojection 106 and stop members 188 and are positioned in interferingpaths, projection 106 will eventually engage one of the stop members,for example, stop member 108 in the illustrated embodiment, andcontinued rotation of ratchet wheel 5i will cause ratchet wheel 190 torotate simultaneously with it. The dobby controller is programmed sothat when it is desired to reverse the.

direction of movement of the warp ends and woven fabric 18 control cable9% and 98 are pulled or tensioned. This will cause pawls '72 and 92 tobe moved out of engagement with ratchet wheel 59 and the normal tensionin the fabric and the warp ends, constituting the return means, willcause ratchet wheel 50 to rotate in the opposite or a return direction.This reverse rotation will continue until projection 1% engages a stopmember on ratchet wheel 1%, namely, stop member 110 in the illustratedembodiment. Since ratchet wheel 100 cannot rotate in the reversedirection because of pawl 114, when projection 1% engages stop member1113 further reverse rotation of ratchet wheel d will be prevented. Thisreturn motion will of course, happen very rapidly and since theremainder of the loom may be programmed to continue normal weavingoperations it will be possible, in effect, to pick up the weaving of anyWarp ends or plies which for the last few picks were not woven. Aspecific weaving sequence which may thus be accomplished is described indetail in copending application for patent Serial No. 91,264, now U.S.Patent No. 3,090,406.

As soon as ratchet wheel 5% has returned the distance represented by thedistance between the stop members on ratchet wheel 100 the tension oncontrol cables 94 and 8 is released so that continued oscillation ofbeatup arm 24 will cause ratchet wheel St} to resume indexing in afabric take-up direction. As soon as it is indexed the same distancethat it previously returned projection 106 will again engage stop 1118and the ratchet wheels will be conditioned for another reverse directionsequence whenever it is desired, depending on the program. As can thusbe seen, the number of picks or distance that the fabric is returned maybe preset by positioning stops 108 and 110 a proportional distanceapart. If only one stop member is used ratchet wheel 56 will returnuntil the projection thereon engages the back of the single stop memberand that distance will depend, among other things, upon its width.Regardless of the number of stop members used, the magnitude of thedistance or number of picks returned will also depend on the ratio ofthe gear drive, the stroke of drive pawl '72, the pitch of the ratchetteeth and the angular spacing of the stop members.

Turning now to the warp feed means of the present invention, as is bestillustrated in FIGURES 1 and 4, the loom is provided with suitablevertical frame members 118 and 129 and horizontal frame members 122 and124. The primary purpose of these frame members is to support a pair ofmating and engaging feed rolls 126 and 128 between which pass the warpends, indicated at 139, which are to be positively fed into the loom.These would be the rib warps in the type of weaving described in theabove identified application for patent. As can be seen in FIGURE 1,warp ends 1311 extend from suitable creels or a separate warp beam,neither of which are shown, passing over a guide roll 132 secured toframe member 1241, around roll 128, between rolls 128 and 126, and overthe top of roll 1%, from which they extend under suitable guide rolls134. Guide rolls 134 are primarily supported by the warp ends themselvesbut are maintained in position by means of relatively weak tensionsprings 136 which extend from them to a convenient portion of the loomframe 22. The resultant tension on these warp ends is just suflicient tofacilitate shedding.

The framework consisting of members 118, 121i, 122 and 124 is providedon both sides of the loom for supporting rolls 126, 12%, and 132. Rolls126 and 128 are mounted so that they are adjustable with respect to eachother, by means of a pair of parallel threaded members 138 and 14%mounted between horizontal frame members 124 and 122. Each end of theshaft of roll 1% is rotatably supported by a bearing assembly 142. whichis adjustably secured to members 138 and 149 by means of nuts 144 whichthreadably engage the latter. Each end of the shaft of roll 12% isrotatably supported by a hearing assembly 146 adjusiably secured tomembers 138 and 1 215 by means of nuts 148 which threadably engage thelatter. Thus, each of the rolls 126 and 128 may be adjusted laterallywith respect to each other to vary the degree of compression of the warpends which pass therebetween. These rolls are preferably provided with asuitable frictional surface, such as rubber or the like, so that thewarp ends will not slip therebetween.

One end of the shaft of roll 126 has keyed thereto a ratchet wheel 151)having about the outer periphery thereof a plurality of ratchet teeth152. To prevent rotation of ratchet wheel in a direction opposite to thewarp feed direction there is provided a suitable locking pawl 154pivotally secured to frame member 118, as at 156. Ratchet wheel 159 isdriven in a warp feed direction by means of a drive pawl 158 secured toa generally vertically extending drive rod 161) which is reciprocated upand down by means of a cam 162 acting upon a cam follower 164- at thelower end of the drive rod and driven by motor 39 through suitablegearing 166. Cam 162 is illustrated as being of a contour such that itwill reciprocate drive rod once for every cycle of beatup arm 24,however, other ratios may be provided for if desired. Drive rod 16% isguided at its lower end by means of a suitable sleeve-like guide 168secured to a convenient portion of loorn frame 22, and at its upper endby means of a guide 170 which provides for up and down movement as wellas fore and aft movement of the drive rod. Secured to the upper end ofthe drive rod is a control cable 172 which extends to and is controlledby a suitable jack in dobby controller 14.

During normal operation of the loom the dobby controller may beprogrammed to maintain tension on control cable 172 to maintain drivepawl 153 out of engagement with ratchet wheel 159. A tension spring 174,however, is provided between frame member 118 and the upper end of driverod 160 to urge the latter, and hence drive pawl 158, towards theratchet wheel when the tension in control cable 172 is released. Inaddition, a tension spring 176 is provided between the upper end of thedrive rod and locking pawl 154 to maintain the latter in constantengagement with ratchet wheel 150. Spring 17d is secured to the guiderod simply for convenience and it is not intended that its tension bereleased when the guide rod moves toward the ratchet wheel.

As can thus be seen, the dobby controller may be programmed so thatwhenever it is desired to positively feed rib or other warp ends intothe loom, the tension on control cable 172 will be released so thatguide rod 160, which continually reciprocates up and down, will bebrought into engagement with the ratchet wheel to index or drive roll126. This positive feeding will continue until control cable 172 isagain tensioned to pull the drive rod and pawl out of engagement withthe ratchet wheel. The magnitude of feeding movement will be establishedby the pitch of ratchet teeth 152 and the stroke of pawl 158. Reverserotation of the ratchet wheel will at all times be prevented by thecontinuous engagement therewith of locking pawl 154.

A fabric which is representative of those which may be woven with loomsembodying the present invention is illustrated in FIGURE 5 in anexpanded condition. The fabric consists of a first face ply 180 made upof banks of warp ends 16:: and 16b, and fill ends 182; a second face ply184 made up of banks of warp ends 160 and 16d, and till ends 186; andfinally, an intermediate rib ply 187 which zig zags diagonally acrossfrom one face ply t0 the other and is itself similarly constructed ofbanks of Warp ends 136a and 13%, and fill ends 188. At areas 190 thewarp ends of the rib ply are interwoven with those of one of the faceplies 180 or 184, sharing the face ply fill ends 182 or 186 for severalpicks. In the example shown in FIGURE 5, rib ply 187 shares the face plyfill ends for two picks at each interwoven area 1%, but obviously thisnumber may be varied if desired to provide more or less interweavingbetween the face and rib plies.

As can be clearly seen, to enable the multi-pl y fabric to be expandedto the extent illustrated, the rib ply must necessarily be provided withseveral additional picks, indicated at x, at least if uniform fill andpick density is to be maintained between the plies. As discussed brieflyabove and in detail in the above-identified copending application forpatent, the fabric may be woven by the loom disclosed herein byprogramming the dobby controller to cause the loom to operate in thefollowing manner: Starting from a point of interweaving, as at 190, thethree plies are simultaneously woven in the conventional manner usingone or three shuttles for a predetermined number of picks, i.e. seven inthe illustrated example. At this point the weaving of face plies 186 and184 is terminated while the weaving of rib ply 187 continues for fourmore picks, i.e. those indicated at x. At this point the dobbycontroller tensions control cables 90 and 98 to cause ratchet wheel 50,and hence fabric 18, to return a distance corresponding to the fourpicks, whereupon the tension on the control cables is released and theweaving of all three plies again commenced. At this point rib ply 187 isinterwoven with face ply 180 for two picks, in the illustrated example,after which weaving continues on the three plies separately for sevenmore picks, and on the rib ply for an additional four picks. The warptake-up mechanism then again operates to return the fabric after thefour extra picks indicated at x have been woven, and the interweaving ofrib ply 187 and face ply 187 takes place, whereupon the cycle mayrepeat.

The dobby controller should be programmed so that the warp feed meanscauses the rib warps to positively advance every time a pick is woven inthe rib ply. if the rib warps are fed from creels, it is preferable thatthe tensioning weight hung on each rib warp end at the creel be asminimal as possible, i.e. just enough to main tain the warp endrelatively straight. Weights of conventional size may, of course, beused on the other warp ends. This manner of operation has been found toyield an expansible fabric of excellent quality when practiced on astandard box loom such as that manufactured by Crompton Knowles Weavers,Inc, under the trade name Cotton King, modified by the addition of thepresent invention.

It is to be understood that the above described mode of operation isonly exemplary of the many which are possible. For example, theinvention is also applicable to the weaving of expansible fabricscomprising more than three plies or more than one rib ply, or to weavingon needle-type looms, and so on.

Thus, there is disclosed in the above description and in the drawing anexemplary embodiment of the invention which fully and effectivelyaccomplishes the objects thereof. However, it will be apparent thatvariations in the details of construction may be indulged in withoutdeparting from the sphere of the invention herein described, or thescope of the appended claims. 7

What is claimed is:

1. A warp control mechanism for a loom adapted to weave a multi-plyfabric including a first ply and a second ply having a greater flattenedlength than the first ply, comprising: a warp take-up roll adapted toengage woven fabric as it comes from the loom; first means normallydrivingly connected to said roll for rotating it at predeterminedintervals in a fabric take-up direction and holding it against thenormal tension in the fabric urging it in the opposite direction; meansfor disconnecting said first means from said roll at predeterminedintervals to allow it to be rotated in the opposite direction by thetension in the fabric; stop means for limiting the return movement ofsaid roll; a pair of mating warp feed rolls rotatably mounted upon theloom between the heddles and warp source thereof and adapted to have thesecond ply warp ends frictionally engaged therebetween; means forpreventing rotation of said rolls in a direction op- 8 x posite to thedirection of positive warp feed into the loom; and second drive meansadapted to drivingly engage said rolls at predetermined intervals topositively feed the second ply warp ends passing between said rolls intothe loom.

2. A warp control mechanism for a loom having a dobby controller andadapted to weave a multi-ply fabric including a first ply and a secondply having a greater flattened length than the first ply, comprising: awarp take-up roll adapted to engage woven fabric as it comes from theloom; first means normally drivingly connected to said roll for rotatingit at predetermined intervals in a fabric take-up direction and holdingit against the normal tension in the fabric urging it in the oppositedirection; means extending between said first means and the dobbycontroller for disconnecting said first means from said roll atpredetermined intervals in response to the program of the dobbycontroller to allow it to be rotated in the opposite direction by thetension in the fabric; stop'means for limiting the return movement ofsaid roll; a pair of mating warp feed rolls rotatably mounted upon theloom between the heddles and Warp source thereof and adapted to have thesecond ply warp ends frictionally engaged therebetween; means forpreventing rotation of said rolls in a direction opposite to the direction of positive warp feed into the loom; second drive means adaptedto drivingly engage said rolls to positively feed the second ply warpends passing between said rolls into the loom; and control meansextending between said second drive means and the dobby controller forcausing said second drive means to drive said rolls at predeterminedintervals in response to the program of said dobby controller.

3. A warp control mechanism for a loom adapted to weave a multi-plyfabric including a first ply and a second ply having a greater flattenedlength than the first ply, comprising: a warp take-up roll adapted toengage Woven fabric as it comes from the loom; a firstrotary memberdrivingly connected to said roll; first means normally engaging saidfirst rotary member for rotating it at predetermined intervals in afabric take-up direction and holding it against the normal tension inthe fabric urging it in the opposite direction; means for disengagingsaid first means from said first rotary member at predeterminedintervals to allow it to be rotated in the opposite direction by thetension in the fabric; a projection extending from said first rotarymember parallel to the rotational axis thereof; a second rotary memberrotatably mounted concentric to said first rotary member and havingadjustable stop means thereon positioned in the path of movement of saidprojection; means preventing said second rotary member from rotating ina direction opposite to the fabric take-up direction of said firstrotary member, whereby when said first means is disengaged from saidfirst rotary member the return motion of the latter will be limited bythe abutment of said projection with said stop means; a pair of matingwarp feed rolls rotatably mounted upon the loom between the heddles andwarp source thereof and adapted to have the second ply warp endsfrictionally engaged therebetween; means for preventing rotation of saidrolls in a direction opposite to the direction of positive warp feedinto the loom; and second drive means adapted to drivingly engage saidrolls at predetermined intervals to positively feed the 'second ply warpends passing between said rolls into the loom.

4. A warp control mechanism for a loom having a dobby controller andadapted to weave a multi-ply fabric including a first ply and a secondply having a greater flattened length than the first ply, comprising: awarp take-up roll adapted to engage woven fabric as it comes from theloom; a first rotary member drivingly connected to said roll; firstmeans normally engaging said first rotary member for rotating it atpredetermined intervals in a fabric take-up direction and holding itagainst the, normal tension in the fabric urging it in the oppositedirection; means extending between said first means and said dobbycontroller for disengaging said first means from said first rotarymember at predetermined intervals in response to the program of thedobby controller to allow it to be rotated in the opposite direction bythe tension in the fabric; a projection extending from said first rotarymember parallel to the rotational axis thereof; a second rotary memberrotatably mounted concentric to said first rotary member and havingadjustable stop means thereon positioned in the path of movement of saidprojection; means preventing said second rotary member from rotating ina direction opposite to the fabric take-up direction of said firstrotary member, whereby when said first means is disengaged from saidfirst rotary member the return motion of the latter will be limited bythe abutment of said projection with said stop means; a pair of matingwarp feed rolls rotatably mounted upon the loom between the heddles andwarp source thereof and adapted to have the second ply warp endsfrictionally engaged therebetween; means for preventing rotation of saidrolls in a direction opposite to the direction of positive warp feedinto the loom; second drive means adapted to drivingly engage said rollsat predetermined intervals to posi- 10 tively feed the second ply warpends passing between said rolls into the loom; and control meansextending between said second drive means and the dobby controller forcausing said second drive means to drive said rolls at predeterminedintervals in response to the program of said dobby controller.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS DONALD W. PARKER,Primary Examiner.

RUSSELL C. MADER, Examiner.

1. A WRAP CONTROL MECHANISM FOR A LOOM ADAPTED TO WEAVE A MULTI-PLYFABRIC INCLUDING A FIRST PLY AND A SECOND PLY HAVING A GREATER FLATTENEDLENGTH THAN THE FIRST PLY, COMPRISING: A WRAP TAKE-UP ROLL ADAPTED TOENGAGE WOVEN FABRIC AS IT COMES FROM THE LOOM; FIRST MEANS NORMALLYDRIVINGLY CONNECTED TO SAID ROLL FOR ROTATING IT AT PREDETERMINEDINTERVALS IN A FABRIC TAKE-UP DIRECTION AND HOLDING IT AGAINST THENORMAL TENSION IN THE FABRIC URGING IT IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION; MEANSFOR DISCONNECTING SAID FIRST MEANS FROM SAID ROLL AT THE PREDETERMINEDINTERVALS TO ALLOW IT TO BE ROTATED IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION BY THETENSION IN THE FABRIC; STOP MEANS FOR LIMITING THE RETURN MOVEMENT OFSAID ROLL; A PAIR OF MATING WRAP FEED ROLLS ROTATABLY MOUNTED UPON THELOOM BETWEEN THE HEDDLES AND WRAP SOURCE THEREOF AND ADAPTED TO HAVE THESECOND PLY WRAP ENDS FRICTIONALLY ENGAGED THEREBETWEEN; MEANS FORPREVENTING ROTATION OF SAID ROLLS IN A DIRECTION OPPOSITE TO THEDIRECTION OF POSITIVE WRAP FEED INTO THE LOOM; AND SECOND DRIVE MEANSADAPTED TO DRIVINGLY ENGAGE SAID ROLLS AT PREDETERMINED INTERVALS TOPOSITIVELY FEED THE SECOND PLY WRAP ENDS PASSING BETWEEN SAID ROLLS INTOTHE LOOM.